


Prelude

by vanitasss



Series: Crestfallen [1]
Category: No Straight Roads (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, Pre-Canon, Prequel to crestfallen, Unhealthy Relationships, War, no i did not do research, no i do not want to, trauma in the making oh boy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:40:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26474299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vanitasss/pseuds/vanitasss
Summary: Neon J had a life before becoming 1010's father and manager. He's a veteran, a cyborg, and generally a dude with a lot of problems. But what's the worst that could've happened?
Relationships: Neon J. (No Straight Roads)/Original Character(s)
Series: Crestfallen [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1924627
Comments: 5
Kudos: 82





	Prelude

Jay hummed, kicking his feet in the back of the transportation truck. On his way to day one of boot camp. Out to make a change in the world, like one of his many many foster moms had said. He couldn’t remember which, he’d been through too many. But they’d all said something around those lines. Go make a difference in the world, and help kids like him who had lost their parents at some point.

He turned and glanced over his shoulder. Only five other boys from the town he had been picked up from. And one of them kept staring at him. Jay wasn’t entirely sure if he was unnerved by it or not. Considering plenty of people stared at him from time to time. He flashed a smile at the other man, who only huffed and turned away. Jay paused, pouted, and turned back to kicking his legs.

He had only just turned 18. Probably the youngest of the group he was with. He didn’t mind, really. It only meant that he had more to learn. And he liked learning! He smiled to himself and looked down at the road as they rode onwards. And started to hum.

It was a mindless tune. Something he had picked up at a young age. Nothing that held any meaning and nothing that was important. Just… with a little twist. He tapped a syncopated beat on the railing of the truck as he hummed, and half mumbled the words.

The truck that had been slowly sputtering along, skipped once, then picked up at the sound of the music. And Jay smiled. Whatever the qwasas were, they all seemed to like his singing. And the one powering the truck was no exception it seemed.

Immediately all attention was on him, and the man who’d been staring was staring at him again. Jay just kept singing, pulling a foot up into the truck to tap it to the beat as well. The truck stuttered again, before deciding to kick it up another notch in speed. The driver punched the ceiling of the truck, and shot a glare back into the cabin.

“Knock it off back there.” He snapped, “Keep the music to yourself unless you want us to end up in the exploded remains of this piece of shit before we even get there.”

Jay rubbed the back of his neck with a hand, jumping at the noise that cut off his singing. “S-Sorry!” He called, smiling to himself, “sorry.”

He returned to kicking his legs out the back of the truck, and watching the road pass by. Of course, until another person dropped down next to him. Jay yelped, and whipped around to face them, and found himself looking at the person who had been staring at him a few moments before.

“Hey.” The other man said. His eyes were a dark brown, highlighted with greys and whites. His hair and skin were differing shades of red. Jay glanced him over twice, before smiling weakly at the stranger.

“Hi?”

“You powered the qwasa just by humming and mumbling words.” The stranger pointed out, “That’s pretty impressive.”

Jay laughed once, and gripped his pants. He tilted his head, almost falling out of the back of the truck. “You think so? A lot of people seem to act like it’s some crazy skill.”

“It is. Usually only professionals can power a qwasa a small amount. And you almost overloaded one by doing simple shit.” He offered a hand to Jay, smiling, “I’m Amadeus. You’ve got talent, my man.”  
And Jay grinned, and shook his hand. “Call me Jay.”

* * *

Getting used to the constant rocking of a boat was… difficult. To say the least. He clung to Amadeus as he made his way to get his dinner.

“And REALLY if-if they didn’t want me pre-charging the mini-qwasas, maybe they shouldn’t have put me on the bridge near them!” He snapped, both arms wrapping tight around one of Amadeus’s single biceps, “It’s not like it’s a big deal anyway. I charged them more than those stupid pre-recorded songs do.”

Amadeus laughed softly, and caught Jay as he tripped over his own feet as the boat lurched violently at a wave. “Why not take it up with the Captain? Sounds like you’re passionate about it.”  
Jay scowled, and stumbled again at another wave. One week on the sea and he still hadn’t got the hang of the constant rocking of the ocean. He held on tighter to keep from falling over completely. “Bullshit. They won’t listen. You know that.” He huffed, “It’s always something about how robotics are more efficient. When the Data is proving them WRONG.”

Another laugh. “Right. As if you’re not their favorite?”

“I’m not. Knock that off.” Jay scowled, “No matter how well I performed at camp, it doesn’t mean I’m their… their favorite or whatever. I mean really! Got assigned to a warship and I can hardly walk on the fucking thing.”

“And you not being their favorite is why they let you in on all the top secret intel?”

“I-” Jay blinked, then stopped walking. He turned bright red, and shoved Amadeus hard, “Shut your mouth! How the hell do you-”

Amadeus laughed loudly that time, and tugged Jay close, wrapping an arm around him. “I don’t. I guessed. But I’m glad I was right, yeah?”

A pause, and a huff. “I… sure. Yeah. They tell me stuff.” He pointed angrily at his friend, “But keep your mouth shut!! Nobody’s supposed to know.”

There was silence for a few moments. Amadeus gently tugging Jay along as he struggled over his own two feet. Eventually, Amadeus glanced down and grinned.

“Alright.” He nodded once, and huffed a short laugh as they arrived at the mess hall, “And look into asking the higher ups for a cane. I can’t carry you everywhere if you’re a ‘Top Dog.’ Heh.”

Jay rubbed the back of his neck, “Yeah yeah. Will do.” He frowned at the floor, before breaking out into a grin and saluting Amadeus, “And you watch your mouth too soldier! Until I get sorted out, you’re my form of transportation! Can’t have you joking about that stuff, got it?”  
And Amadeus smiled, saluted back, and half-laughed an “affirmative.”

Jay watched him turn around and walk away, back straight and chin held high. Things were going well. Peace, at least for their little warship, had been all they’d encountered. Every other smaller ship they passed responded to questioning with flying colors, and all the fighting seemed to be on land. It almost made all the training at camp feel useless. Jay headed into the mess hall, and got ready for dinner.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey gang it's Vani here BACK ATCHA... ok jokes aside this chapter is... uh. Pretty tame? But it's not going to be in the future. I'm going to include content warnings before every chapter after this one, so please be safe, K?  
> That said, I'm looking forward to explaining my headcanons about how Vinyl City- and the rest of the country- are powered! Hehe.  
> Also don't send me information about naval and military shit. I do not care and sure it can be argued that my writing would be more "accurate", but also this is a world where a man with a space orb for a head is totally normal. So yeah. Keep that in mind.


End file.
